History shows you can't write off Congress in Telangana: Revanth Reddy interview

An otherwise peaceful and silent colony in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills, where Revanth Reddy's office is located, has been buzzing with activity ever since the Malkajgiri MP was appointed as the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President. Hundreds of people have been queueing up with shawls and bouquets to greet the new TPCC President. Huge cutouts and congratulatory posters now adorn the walls outside Reddy’s office. In a candid interview to TNM, Revanth Reddy throws light on his plans and strategy ahead of the state elections in 2024.  

The Congress had almost been written off in the state and your elevation is being touted as a new lease of life for the party. How hopeful are you of being able to steer the party to a victory in 2024?

Let’s observe the period from 1994 to 2024, it is a thirty-year period. The first 10 years TDP was in power, at that point of time, everyone had written off the Congress-- as the party had managed to win only 26 seats out of a total of 294 in 1994. The Congress party did not even get the opposition status. People claimed that the end of Congress had come and that the TDP had become invincible. However, in 2004, the same leadership and the same party, along with its allies, won 252 seats against the TDP. In the next ten years, when Rajasekhara Reddy was alive, the TRS and the TDP were written off. Until 2014 the Congress was in power. The next 10 years, from 2014, it is the TRS which is in power. In the upcoming election in 2024, Congress will make it like never before. You mark my words, this is the first interview I am giving after becoming TPCC president. I will ensure the result will be in our favour.  

We’ve learnt from our sources that Priyanka Gandhi played an instrumental role in your elevation. Rahul Gandhi has also closely interacted with you as both of you are part of the Parliamentary standing committee on defence. Did you expect them to play an important role in your appointment?

This is a collective decision. I don’t know who is involved in this decision. Ultimately my leader is Sonia Gandhi ji. She takes every decision and the one who signs on the file is madam Sonia ji. I am not aware of those who have spoken in my favour. Rahul Gandhi likes me a lot and I interacted with Priyanka Gandhi ji in Bengaluru and she enquired about my padayatra for the farmers. She is well aware of the situation in Telangana.

Be it YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu, or Jagan Mohan Reddy, padayatras have worked in their favour in the past. Will we be seeing you take up the tried-and-tested formula?

Every decision is a collective decision in the Congress. The party will take a call about a Padayatra. When, how, where, who will be decided by the party. Based on the feedback that I receive, the core committee, the working president and other leaders will consider and then take a decision. Be it a Padayatra or a bus yatra, if one is taken up, who will do it will also be decided by the party.

What is going to be the key strategies ahead of the state elections?

According to my observation, there are four points that are very important to win an election. Firstly, a party should have a clear policy. Be it BC, SC, ST, minorities, women, youth, unemployed etc, the party should have a clear policy about what it will do if they are voted to power. Secondly, a party needs to have good calculations. If an election is to be won, a party needs to keep its flock together. For example, there are many parties that are fighting against KCR. I need to ensure everyone who accepts the Congress’ philosophy and Sonia Gandhi’s leadership need to gather together and then a strong fight needs to be put up. Who to take along is something that the party will decide and this is the calculation that needs to be done and hence this calculation is third on the list. Finally, infrastructure at the booth levels needs to be worked upon and this is called execution.

CM KCR has initiated a Dalit Empowerment Programme. We are seeing several firsts in the style of governance, is he already preparing the ground for election?

CM KCR’s Dalit outreach is undoubtedly a political strategy. KCR’s era is going to end and that is why he is desperately trying every trick in his book. We have seen a lot of these tricks and drama. In Telangana, out of four crore people, one crore people are from the SC population and this almost constitutes 20%.  Out of this entire population, he will be choosing 100 people from each constituency and they will be given 10 lakhs each. This is what he claims as outreach to the Dalit community. KCR had promised a Dalit would be made the Chief Minister. That never happened. He did make a Dalit the Deputy CM, he was later dismissed. He later promised 3 acres for landless poor Dalits, this too remains undelivered. 2 BHKs were promised, he hasn’t delivered on this promise. Today, there are lakhs of loan applications pending with the SC corporation. KCR is a Dalit drohi. If you take all the recent cases into consideration, most of them have been against Dalits. He had announced a 125-feet statue of Ambedkar. Last 7 years he has never attended Ambedkar Jayanthi. KCR hates Dalits.

Now that the BJP is gaining ground in the state, who do you consider as your opponent, is it the BJP or the TRS?

BJP is not even in the scene. Where are they? They’re on the TV, they’re on social media. The people gave them one chance, in the name of the Bhagyalakshmi temple. Where were the 47 BJP corporators when the pandemic was at its peak? The National Disaster management comes under the home ministry. The Minister of State (Home) is from Telangana. Despite floods in Hyderabad and despite COVID-19, has he been able to get any additional funds for the state? BJP is surviving with the support of KCR. People say A team, B team but I say BJP is TRS’s frontal organization.

The Congress and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM have had a bitter-sweet relationship. Now that you are at the helm of affairs, will we be seeing an outreach to Owaisi?

It is too early to say something about this. Asad bhai is a very sensible person and is a good friend of mine. Whenever the minorities or Dalits are troubled, Asad Bhai has always taken a decision to ensure justice for them. He is a seasoned politician who has good knowledge about people’s issues. I am expecting that we will get a positive reaction from AIMIM and Asad bhai. I share a very good personal relationship with Asad bhai, but it doesn’t mean both the parties will join hands. Personal relations are different and political equations are different. But as far as I know, I see him as a person who will take a step forward to ensure injustice is not meted out to the people of Telangana. Though it's too early to comment about it, let’s hope things turn out positively.

You will be officially taking over the chair at Gandhi Bhavan on July 7, what is being planned, will we witness a show of strength?

Congress workers are expected to come for the occasion. However, we aren’t mobilizing any crowds. It is however an important occasion. I will be starting from the Peddamma temple which was constructing by P Janardhan Reddy, a stalwart of Telangana. Then I will be visiting Nampally Dargah and then will visit a Church as well before heading to Gandhi Bhavan. Congress party believes in the social fabric and I will respect the same. It is going to be now or never. Aur ek Dakka, Congress Pakka is going to be our slogan. I am requesting the people of Telangana and want to convey to them that Sonia Gandhi has a lot of concern for Telangana. This is the time to prove our integrity. The people of Telangana are those who will even remember someone who has offered them a glass of water. From 70 years what could not be achieved, Sonia Gandhi helped to fulfil the dream.